Let’s face it when you are planning a wedding or other major event you want it to be perfect and personal to you. I can speak from experience that getting it right can be fraught with anxiety and the unexpected always manages to put in an appearance. For a really important event, the best plan is to call in the professionals. That too is a major decision, as the right planner can make your day one to remember – for all the right reasons. Jon’ll Boyd and her Events Planning company “Completely Yours Events” ticks all the boxes.

Firstly, Boyd has all the qualifications needed. She enjoyed a successful career in sales and marketing before opening her own company, complemented by her educational background and corporate planning experience. She is certified as a Wedding Planner through the Lovegevity Wedding Institute, and she now leads a team of talented Event Coordinators managing over 65 events each year.

But for such a personal service, professional qualifications are only the beginning. I ask Boyd what else is required to make a great events planner. She cites good organization, problem solving, patience and great customer service skills. Some of these are innate, she tells me:

“I believe that there are some characteristics that people are just born with such as being an outgoing, bubbly person or knowing what to say in difficult circumstances or to calm someone down when they are super anxious; however by the same token there are many things about event planning that have to be learned and many times can only be learned from experience such as understanding how to accurately plot out a timeline or anticipate certain situations that could arise on the day of an event.”

Ah yes the unexpected. How do you manage to cope with that?

“Well it is safe to say that even the planner with the best and most well laid out plan can rest assured that everything will not always go according to plan. My philosophy is always have a Plan A, B, C, and D. This way you never run out of options and always have a solution only a short distance away. Above all remain calm and know that everything will work out in the end. The mark of a good event is when everything went wrong but only the event planner noticed.”

Boyd is discreet, even when pressed, when I ask for any amusing ‘event’ stories; reassuring for potential customers. I ask her about the enormous amount of trust clients invest in her when planning important personal events. She says that: “Every client is so very different. Taking the time to build a rapport with them at the beginning of the process is what helps build the trust in the end. Many times we become their closest confidant, trusted advisor, and listening ear throughout the planning process.”

Individuality is the key and she tells me how one bride, allergic to flowers requested a paper airplane send off as she and the groom exited her wedding. Small details that highly personalize a special day.

You only have to chat with Boyd for a short time to see her total enthusiasm and commitment to providing clients with their perfect day.

“The most enjoyable aspect of my role is what I call my “second paycheck”. My second paycheck is the gratification I get from seeing our clients beaming with smiles and happiness because we were able to meet and even exceed their expectations …Even in their wildest dreams they never imagined it could be that perfect but it is and it was and knowing we helped to create that memory for them is what we live for at the end of the day.”